Typewriter carriage position indicator



April 3, 1951 c. w. NORTON 2,547,088

TYPEWRITER CARRIAGE POSITION INDICATOR Original Filed Nov. 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 3, 1951 c. w. NORTON 2,547,088

TYPEWRITER CARRI AGE POSITION INDICATOR Original Filed Nov. 19, 1945 Sheets-Sheet 2 II-C Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITER CARRIAGE PDSITION INDICATOR Charles W. Norton, West Orange, N. J., assignor to Ralph C. Coxhead Corporation, Newark, N. J., a. corporation of Delaware 6 Claims.

This invention relates to typewriting machines and is illustrated and described as embodied in a machine known in the art as the Vari-typer, in which a supporting anvil wheel carries interchangeable type shuttles, so that various styles and sizes of type may be used at will. It relates more especially to such machines in which the spacing requirements for various type characters vary as in printing, the wider letters requiring additional space. In this connection, the machine is provided with a differential or proportional carriage letter spacing mechanism. This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 629,350, filed November 19, 1945, and since issued as Patent No. 2,465,657, dated March 29, 1949.

The spacing requirements of the various letters and characters require a carriage spacing mechanism which is capable of relatively slight incremental carriage movement, which may be obtained by utilizing a plurality of interconnected carriage escapement wheels, or a single carriage escapement wheel which is capable of operation to cause an escapement of one or a plurality of teeth. In either instance, the spacing scheme is in essence an incremental movement of the carriage a varying number of arbitrary spacing units in accordance with the spacing requirements of the character printed. These arbitrary units of spacing are necessarily relatively small and, whereas the conventional indicator mounted on the carriage or frame and moving along a lineal scale mounted on the typewriter frame or carriage, together with a suitable left-hand margin stop, is suflicient for typewriters having uniform spacing for all characters, when a differential letter spacing is utilized, the left-hand margin of one or more columns of typing may become uneven in the amount of one or more small incremental spacing units. The non-uniform margin (or initial positioning of the carriage in starting a new line) would not be apparent on a conventional scale since the spacing units are so small in a differential spacing typewriter, and, furthermore, the left-hand margin stop is apt to be inaccurate and require frequent and very accurate adjustment due to the smallness of the arbitrary spacing unit, which may be smaller than the carriage spacing for any character on the keyboard.

In the form shown of the present invention a left-hand margin indicating mechanism is provided that will in effect magnify the indication of the initial carriage position so that it can be determined at a glance whether the carriage is in proper position to maintain a completely uniform left-hand margin. In addition, portions of the margin indicator may be adjusted to serve as a ready and permanent reference for determining initial carriage position for subsequent lines.

This invention is disclosed on a machine for the typing of justified lines as in printing, in which a wide carriage is provided and each line is to be first written in unjustified form in a first or left-hand column and retyped in justified form in a second or right-hand column.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved margin indicator particularly adapted for typewriters having differential carriage let-= ter spacing mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a margin indicator having one or more elements relatively adjustable so as to indicate proper carriage positioning for one or more uniform margins.

Another object is to provide a margin indicator that will magnify carriage movement so as to permit uniform carriage positioning even though the carriage escapement mechanism may provide small incremental movements.

Another object is to generally improve typewriter margin indicators.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent in the description of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings comprising a part of the specification. In the claims, as well as in the description, parts are identified by specific names for convenience, but such nomenclature is intended to be as generic in its application to analogous parts as the prior art will permit. The best form in which I have contemplated applying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the preferred form of typewriting machine, certain parts being omitted which are well-known and not necessary to understanding of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of the dial and index for indicating the position of the carriage.

Fig. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic fragmentary front elevation of the dial and index shown in Fig. 3.

The typewriting machine herein illustrated and described is of the key-controlled shuttle type, in'which the printed impression is formed by the impact of a printing hammer which forces the paper against the ribbon and type, and i known in the trade as the Vari-typer. It comprises a frame I (Fig. 1) which carries the mechanism of the machine. Type keys 2 (only a few being illustrated) are mounted on a pivot bar 4 (Fig. 2) supported by the main frame I. These type keys at their front ends carry finger buttons 5 and at the rear ends cooperate with the actuator bars 6 (one of which is shown in Fig. 2) to operate actuators 1. These actuator bars 1 swing a shuttle arm 8 (Fig. 1) so as to oscillate a shuttle 9 on an anvil 9a to bring the proper type to the printing point. Stop rods I!) (Fig. 2) are provided over each type key lever 2 to engage and limit movement of the shuttle arm 8, thereby definitely positioning the proper type at the printing point when a type key is operated. This mechanism is old in the art and will not be described in detail. See patent to Trego 1,880,592, October 4, 1932.

The paper carriage l6 (Fig. 2) is provided with antifriction rollers H which travel along a hori zontal carriage supporting rod 18 mounted on the frame I as the carriage moves to the left under the influence of a flat coiled carriage drive spring contained within a drum or housing I9 (Fig. 1) pivotally mounted on the frame i. A suitable tape E90 is connected with the carriage l6, biasing the carriage to the left at all times, and is wound about the drum l9 as the carriage is permitted to move to the left by the carriage spacing or escapement mechanism. Upon return movement of the carriage, as for typing a, new line, the tape 190 is unwound from the drum 19. This mechanism is generally old and wellknown in the art and therefore will not be described in detail.

The particular form of typewriter disclosed in the drawings is designed for the production of justified typing, in which the spacing between the words is adjusted or increased in order to maintain a uniform margin for complete lines at both the left-hand and right-hand sides of the paper or column of type, as in printing. In the mechanism shown, the justifying controls for producing the uniform right-hand margin are set automatically upon the first typing of a line in unjustified form and, upon retyping of the line, the line is stretched to uniform predetermined length. For this reason, the paper carriage I6 is made extra wide so as to accommodate two columns side by side, the left-hand column being for unjustified lines and the right-hand column being for justified lines. The precise mechanism and manner for accomplishing this is fully shown and described in the parent application, and is shown and described only briefly herein.

Referring to Fig. 1, the spacing movement of the carriage H5 is controlled not only by the printing keys which effect a carriage spacing movement of from 2 to 7 arbitrary space units according to the character selected and which may vary between the upper and lower case letters and with the style of type, but also by spacing controls which produce carriage spacing movement, as is required by spacing between words or otherwise.

For spacing between words, a space bar is provided which, through certain linkage, not only causes spacing movement of the carriage it two units (normal spacing between words) but also is connected with the justifying mechanism so as to produce the desired setting of the mechanism during typing of an unjustified line or increase of the space between words when typing a j s fied line.

In addition, a spacing key Ha, indicated on the keyboard as SP, serves to produce a carriage spacing movement of one unit, which unit is smaller than any spacing required by any of the characters on the keyboard. This spacing key is not interconnected in any way with the justifying mechanism and actuation of the key does not affect the operation of such mechanism.

The carriage I6 is also provided with suitable backspacing mechanism which is controlled by keys on the keyboard. One key marked B 4 SP serves to backspace the carriage it four space units while a second backspacing key marked B 1 SP serves to backspace the carriage a single unit. Neither of these backspacing keys is connected with or have any effect on the justifying mecha nism. The precise nature and detailed operation of the backspacing mechanism is more completely disclosed in the parent application.

Return movement of the carriage i6 is limited by a left-hand margin stop, not shown, so as to determine the margin at the left of the unjustified or left-hand column of typing. A tabulator stop, not shown, similarly, upon actuation of a tabulator key on the keyboard marked TAB, serves to determine the position of the left-hand margin of the justified or right-hand column of type. The construction, arrangement and detailed operation of these stops and associated parts are disclosed in the parent application.

Due to minor misadjustment of the machine which may result solely from normal wear, as well as to the smallness of the spacing unit (which in this case is of the smallest character spacing), even upon normally careful operation of the machine, the carriage may not be uniformly positioned for the commencing of a new line of either unjustified or justified typing, thus resulting in a ragged and uneven left-hand margin. An uneven left-hand margin in the lefthand column will result in improper setting of the justifying, mechanism so that the justified line will not be the proper length, while an uneven left-hand margin of the justified column will cause a ragged margin' at both left and right in the column of justified lines. come about either due to minor misadjustment of the machine or due to the tendency of the carriage to rebound when its'movement is interrupted by a margin determining stop, and such inaccuracy of margins is made very much more probable by the use of small spacing units such as are found in a typewriter escapement mechanism spacing differentially for diifering width characters.

A carriage position indicator is provided to indicate accurately the precise position of the typewriter carriage in relation to its position for commencing the typing of preceding lines in both the unjustified and justified column. For this purpose, the drum I9 is provided with a spiral cut gear 19a on its forward face. The spiral gear [9a meshes with a mating spiral pinion [9b which is secured to an indicator shaft 2%.

The indicator shaft 20a projects upwardly and forwardly from the drum [9 to a position above the keyboard, as shown in Fig. 1. This shaft This may may be rotatively supported in bearings within a housing Zili supported from the frame I by a plurality of supports such as 297' and 207C.

The indicator shaft 20a is provided at its up per end with a pointer or indicating element 2-0 which may be mounted on the forward end of the shaft and confined between a pair of friction discs 25d and Ziie held in place on the shaft by a nut 28f. The construction is such that the pointer 29 may be rotated on the shaft 20a to a predetermined position, as hereinafter explained.

A dial 20b is fixed to the housing 291' beneath the pointer 20 and is provided with a small index point such as a raised ing 28?) near the periphery of the dial. The dial is held infixed position and is not adjustable.

A bezel 26g, which may be of the cross section indicated in Fig. is rotatfvely mounted on the dial 20b and projects forwardly to contain the pointer. A friction plate 2611 may be mounted behind the dial 20b to frictionally retain the bezel 253g in any set position. The bezel 29g is provided with an index point 260 which may be in the form of a raised lug. In the organization above described, the dial 2%, the pointer 20 and the bezel 209 are all relatively adjustable.

As the carriage I5 is moved either from right to left as in typing or from left to right as in carriage return movement, the drum i9 will rotate according to the direction of the carriage movement, either winding in or unwinding the tape I90 which is connected to the carriage.

Upon such movement of the carriage it, the

indicator shaft 2041 will be rotated at a greater angle of velocity than the drum l9 due to the relative sizes of the spiral gear [9a mounted on the drum and the mating pinion Ifib mounted on the indicator shaft.

Rotation of the indicator shaft 20a will cause the pointer 20 to rotate above the dial 202), making a number of revolutions in the typing of each line. However, the pointer 20 will occupy a definite angular position for one or more separated particular carriage positions, which positions willremain uniform from line to line of typing. Accordingly, there will be a definite angular position of the pointer 29 when the carriage is properly positioned for commencing the typing of an unjustified or justified line in the left-hand and right-hand columns respectively,

which angular position will in all likelihood not I be the same for both columns.

The operation of the indicator is simple and reliable. After setting the stops for determining the left-hand margin of the unjustified and justified columns and before typing the initial line of the columns, the carriage H5 is returned to position against the left margin stop for typing the first unjustified line. The pointer 20 is then rotated to a position opposite the raised lug or mark 281) on the fixed dial 28b. After typing the first unjustified line and actuating the tabulator key to position the carriage for typing the first justified line, the bezel 20g is rotated to place' the index point 200 opposite the pointer 2 as then positioned, thus marking the carriage position for commencing the justfied line.

In the typing of all subsequent lines in both the unjustified and justified columns, the position of the indicator is referred to. In the commencing of each unjustified line, the carriage is first returned and then it is noted whether the pointer 20 coincides with the lug 2012 on the dial 20b.

ill

It isoften found that the carriage: may be off one or more units of space, which is clearly indi cated due tothe relatively large movement of the pointer 20 for each unit space movement of the carriage IS. The pointer 28 is brought into coincidence with the lug 2th by operation of either the space key SP or one of the backspace keys.

' Similarly, upon positioning the carriage for initiating the typing of any justified line, the position of the carriage is checked and the pointer brought into coincidence with the index pointZiic on the bezel Ziig by spacing-of backspacing of the carriage l 6 by means of the space key SP or one of the backspacing keys. The setting of the pointer 20 and the bezel 2iig as determined by the first line is not altered during typing of the work.

From the foregoing,- it will be observed that, whilea shuttle type of typewriting machine has been shown, the invention is primarily directed to improvements in carriage indicating mechanism and is capable of association with any other kind of typewriter, whether justifying or not, and is particularly applicable to a typewriter spacing differentially in the same font of type.

I claim:

1. In a typewriter adapted for typing an unjustified line of type in a first column and a justified line of type in a second column and havin a movable paper carriage, a carriage spacing mechanism for differentially spacing within the same font of type, carriage'stops for determining the left margin of the typed lines, and a carriage position indicating mechanism; the improvement which comprises: the carriage position indicating mechanism comprising a rotatable shaft driven responsive to carriage movement and at a velocity to magnify such carriage movement, an indicating element mounted thereon, and index points for indicating the carriage positions for commencing the unjustified and justified lines of type, said indicating element being adjustable into coincidence with one of said index points to indicate the left margin of one column of type and the other of said index points being adjustable into coincidence with said indicating element to indicate the left margin of the other column of type.

2. In a typewriter adapted for typing an unjustified line of type in a first column and a justified line of type in a second column and having a movable paper carriage, a carriage-spacing mechanism for differentially spacing Within the same font of type, carriage stops for determining the left margin of the typed lines, and a carriage position indicating mechanism; the improvement which comprises: the carriage position indicating mechanism comprising an indicating element rotated responsive to carriage movement and two cooperating index points for indicating the carriage positions for commencing the unjustified and justified lines of type,said indicating element and one of said index points being adjustable about the axis of rotation of the indicating element.

3. In a typewriter adapted for typing an unjustified line of type in a first column and a justified line of type in a second column and having a movable paper carriage, a carriage spacing mechanism for differentially spacing Within the same font of type, carriage stops for determining the left margin of each typed line, and a carriage position indicating mechanism; the improvement which comprises: the carriage posiable into coincidence with said indicating ele-' ment to indicate the left margin of the other column of type.

4. In a typewriter adapted for typing an unjustified line of type in a first column and a justified line of type in a second column and having a movable paper carriage, a carriage spacing mechanism for differentially spacing within the same font of type, carriage stops for determining the left margin of the typed lines, and a carriage position indicating mechanism; the improvement which comprises: the carriage position indicating mechanism comprising a rotatable shaft driven responsive to carriage movement and at a velocity to magnify such carriage movement, an indicating element mounted thereon, and index points for indicating the carriage positions for commencing the unjustified and justified lines of type, said indicating element and one of the index points being adjustable along the path of travel of the indicating element.

5. In a typewriter adapted for typing an unjustified line of type in a first column and a justified line of type in a second column and having a movable paper carriage, a carriage-spacing mechanism for difierentially spacing within the same font of type, carriage stops for determining the left margins of the typed lines, and a carriage position indicating mechanism; the improvement which comprises: the carriage position indicating mechanism comprising an indicating element driven along a fixed path responsive to carriage movement and two cooperating index points mounted on the path of the indicating element for indicating the carriage positions for commencing the unjustified and justified lines of type, said indicating element and one of said index points being adjustable along the fixed path of the indicating element.

6. In a typewriter adapted for typing an unjustified line of type in a first column and a justified line of type in a second column and having a movable paper carriage, a carriage spacing mechanism for differentially spacing within the same font of type, carriage stops for determining the left margin of the typed lines, and a carriage position indicating mechanism; the improvement which comprises: the carriage position indicating mechanism comprising a rotatable shaft driven responsive to carriage movement, an indicating element mounted thereon, a fixed index point, the indicating element being adjustable into coincidence with the fixed index point to indicate the carriage position for commencing the unjustified line, and a second index point mounted for rotation about the axis of rotation of the indicating element and adjustable into coincidence therewith to indicate te left margin of the justified line of type.

CHARLES W. NORTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Anderson Sept. 26, 1916 

